


Let's Start With Coffee

by draagonfly



Series: NoiAo Week 2016 [4]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Animal Shelter AU!!, M/M, NoiAo Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5685403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draagonfly/pseuds/draagonfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba works in an animal shelter, and Noiz is a bunny addict.</p>
<p>A second thing for NoiAo Week day 4!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Start With Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't all that satisfied with the first fic I wrote for today  
> Granted, I'm not all that satisfied with this one either but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Un-edited, please forgive my mistakes, I am dead tired and refuse to sleep until I finish this

“Thanks for stopping in!” Aoba waved at the couple leaving the store with his customary smile until the door swung shut with a ring of the old fashioned bell. Then he allowed his friendly façade to fade away, sliding off his features with the slump of his shoulders. It was almost the end of adoption hours, and he hadn’t found a single animal a home. He enjoyed working at the shelter more than he could describe, but it was easy to get discouraged when family after family came in only to decide that none of these animals were cute enough, or friendly enough, or too scruffy looking. He tried his hardest to keep them all clean and groomed, but with only two full-time employees and an over-full shelter, it was almost impossible. Even more than the disdain for snobby parents, it hurt to see all of these lovable potential-pets be rejected for such superficial reasons.

Aoba shook his head, clearing the thoughts away. He couldn’t allow himself to get discouraged – it was his job to find these animals homes, and he couldn’t do that with such a negative attitude. The bell chimed again and Aoba immediately plastered on his ‘happy to serve you’ smile as a customer entered the old building.

“Welcome! Can I help you –“ He allowed his sentence to drop there upon seeing who had entered, and his smile turned into a more genuine one.

“Welcome back, Noiz.”

All Aoba knew about this person was that he went by ‘Noiz’ and that he liked rabbits. Noiz was a regular visitor, coming in every weekday evening to watch and play with the rabbits. Apparently he had been coming here since before Aoba was even hired, so he was content to let him be, often letting him stay even past adoption hours.

Noiz acknowledged him with a curt nod and made his way straight to the rabbit cage in the corner of the room. There were currently three rabbits housed here, and Aoba had noticed that while Noiz was sure to give each of them plenty of attention, he especially favored the pure white one, who in turn seemed to especially like Noiz. Aoba watched them play for a moment before leaving them to it, whatever ‘it’ was, and moved to the back to prepare dinner for the rest of the shelter.

As he worked, he thought about this strange visitor, not for the first time. In the beginning Aoba had tried to make conversation, only to find that Noiz was not one for small talk.

_“You really like rabbits, don’t you?”_

_“…Not really.”_

_“But you visit them every day. You wouldn’t spend so much time with something you didn’t like.”_

_“…”_

_“…Not that I don’t appreciate you coming in, but have you ever thought about adopting one of them? That white one seems to like you a lot.”_

_“…”_

_“Um, okay, well if you change your mind, let me know!”_

Since then Aoba hadn’t tried to engage him again, letting him sit quietly with the rabbits until he got up and left without a word. Aoba sighed. He wished he could get to know this person a little better. Noiz was scary at first glance, with sharp green eyes that seemed to shut out anyone and everyone. But Aoba had never been one to judge by appearances, and when Noiz played with the rabbits his eyes were gentle and soft. Surely he couldn’t be a bad person if he was capable of such an expression.

“Ah- !”

The bowl Aoba had been filling had overflowed, and now there was cat food all over the floor around him.

“…Wonderful…” Aoba clapped his cheeks and swept up the mess, hoping Haga wouldn’t be too angry about the wasted food.

-

Finished with dinner, he went back to the front room to find Noiz just standing up to leave.

“Goodnight, Noiz! See you tomorrow.”

“…See you.”

Aoba froze, eyes wide as Noiz walked casually out of the building as though nothing had happened. Was he imagining things? Noiz rarely spoke, and even then Aoba usually had to push for it. Was Noiz finally opening up to him?

Another genuine grin spread across his face, and Aoba spent the rest of the evening giddy over the exchange. He couldn’t put his finger on why exactly he was so determined to get to know this person, but didn’t have a mind to think too deeply about it. Maybe tomorrow he would try to speak with him again.

Before he knew it he was at home, tucked in his bed, still thinking of the stranger who likes bunnies as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

“So, what sorts of toys do bunnies like best?”

“Huh?”

Aoba crouched down on the balls of his feet next to Noiz and looked into the rabbit cage. He had taken the initiative to once again attempt to converse with Noiz, though the only thing he knew about him was what he observed from Noiz’s visits, so he used that as a starting point.

“Bunnies. What kind of toys do they like? I’ve been meaning to get something new to put in their cage because the current ones are pretty old.”

Noiz glanced at Aoba out of the corner of his eye, quickly looking back to the rabbits.

“Dunno.”

“Hm. I’ll have to do some research. I feel bad that the dogs and cats have so many, but the poor bunnies hardly ever get new things.” He stopped talking, watching the rabbits hop around, stopping occasionally to nibble on carrots or sip some water. It wasn’t a lie – he really had been meaning to get something for the rabbits.

“Baby toys.”

“Hm? Baby toys?” Aoba looked at Noiz in confusion. He hadn’t heard of that before.

“Yeah. Things they can knock over or chew on. Blocks or keys or something.” This was the most Aoba had ever heard Noiz say. He was ecstatic, but he was careful not to let his excitement show. It would be awful to scare him off so soon after he finally opened up.

“Interesting. I guess I’ll go shopping this weekend.” Aoba almost asked Noiz if he wanted to come along, but stopped himself at the last second. He was getting ahead of himself. “Anyway, I’m glad you know about this stuff. I would never have thought of baby toys. Do you have rabbits at home?” He thought it was a safe enough question, but regretted asking when Noiz tensed and stared even more intently at the white rabbit sitting in front of him.

“No.”

“Ah, I see.” Damn, now he had done it. Aoba hadn’t meant to upset him, and he cursed himself internally. He had no idea how to continue the conversation now.

“Kaninchen.” Aoba perked up when Noiz spoke again, but became confused when he realized he had no idea what Noiz had just said.

“Ka-ni- what?”

“Kaninchen. It means ‘rabbit’ in German. The name of the rabbit I used to have.”

“You named your rabbit, ‘Rabbit’?” Noiz’s cheeks tinted a barely there shade of pink and he turned away when Aoba smiled teasingly. The word ‘cute’ flickered through his mind.

“Ka-nin-hi-en.” Aoba attempted to repeat the foreign word, annoyed that the sounds didn’t translate well to Japanese. Noiz’s lips twitched upward into a little half smile, and suddenly Aoba understood exactly why he couldn’t leave him alone.

“Your pronunciation is terrible.”

“You -! You brat.” Now it was Aoba’s turn to blush, though much darker and more noticeable than Noiz’s. “It’s not my fault – that was my first time speaking German.”

Noiz chuckled quietly and Aoba huffed and stood.

“It’s time for dinner, so I’ll be going.” Before he turned away he caught a flicker of something in Noiz’s sharp gaze. Disappointment? That couldn’t be. He walked back to the kitchen and began his evening preparations.

When he finally re-emerged, Noiz had already gone.

* * *

“Have a nice day!” The bell chimed and Aoba sighed as another family left the shelter empty handed. He knelt down to pat the little dog the family had been looking at. He wasn’t sure how anyone could resist this one – Ren was the fluffiest, quietest, most well-behaved dog Aoba had ever met. And he had a habit of sticking his tongue out of his mouth, which Aoba found absolutely adorable. Ren was enjoying his scratches behind the ears when the bell chimed again. Aoba stood up to greet the newcomer, only to pause in confusion when Noiz walked in the door.

“Noiz? You’re early, it’s only noon.” Noiz continued to walk up to Aoba, not responding to the statement. He was holding a bag in one hand that seemed to be filled with various small objects. Stopping right in front of Aoba, he raised the bag up, indicating for Aoba to take it. “What is it?”

“For the rabbits. A donation, I guess.” Sure enough, when Aoba opened the bag he saw a sizable amount of baby toys, cat toys, and other small things that rabbits might like to play with. He looked back up to Noiz who averted his gaze to the side.

“Noiz…” Aoba was in awe. “This is amazing, but way more than we need…”

“It’s fine. You can swap them out once in a while. So they don’t get bored.”

Aoba looked up into Noiz’s eyes, trying to convey his appreciation as much as possible. “Thank you.”

“…It’s whatever.” Noiz averted his gaze again, but it didn’t seem to be out of embarrassment or shyness. Aoba wondered if he really disliked talking to people. “I won’t be here. Later I mean. I just wanted to drop those off.”

“Oh, okay then.” Disappointment filled his chest but Aoba refused to let it leak into his demeanor. It’s not like he had to be here every day. “Doing something fun?”

Noiz shook his head. “Work stuff. Meetings.” Seemingly not intending to go into detail, Aoba pushed a little further.

“I see. What do you do? For work.” Another deceptively safe question that caused Noiz to tense up. It wasn’t as severe as the when he asked about the rabbit before, but Aoba was seriously beginning to wonder why such innocent questions evoked such a reaction. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer.”

Noiz shrugged. “It’s nothing interesting. I’m going to be late though.”

“Ah, right. Well, have a good day! And thanks again, for these.” Aoba indicated the bag of rabbit toys.

“It’s nothing. Later.” Noiz turned and walked back to the door, but Aoba had a sudden burst of confidence and he called out before his mind realized what his mouth was doing.

“Noiz!” He paused and turned, nearly at the door, and Aoba’s brain finally caught up to him. He immediately regretted calling out, but figured it would be more awkward if he were to brush it off as nothing. Noiz’s attention was on him, so he may as well go for it. “Um, do- do you want to maybe get coffee or something sometime? With me, I mean?” _Stupid, Aoba, of course he knew you meant together!_ Aoba cringed at his awkward floundering.

Noiz’s grin didn’t help in the slightest. “Are you asking me on a date?” He stepped back towards Aoba, slowly advancing toward him again.

Blood rushed to Aoba’s cheeks, flushing red all the way up to his ears. “Y-you don’t have to say yes, I just thought I’d ask because –“ His words were cut off, not by his own doing, but by something pressing gently against his lips. Something soft and warm and gentle and…

“…!!!” The blush spread from his ears to his temple when he realized what was happening. He backed away in a hurry, trying to understand what exactly was going on. Did Noiz just…?!

The person in question raised an eyebrow, as though not understanding why Aoba had retreated. “What?”

“You- You just- what are you doing?!” It wasn’t that he necessarily hated it, it was just so sudden and they were just talking and then Aoba said something strange and now Noiz was kissing him?!

Noiz continued to look confused. “Kissing you. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I said coffee, not whatever that was!”

“…I don’t get it.”

“What? Isn’t that what normal people do? Go on a date before any of this.” Aoba gestured between them, as though that would convey his point better than his disorganized words.

“I don’t know. I was just returning your favor. I don’t like owing people, but I wasn’t sure what you wanted. Now I do, so...” Mouth agape, Aoba just stared at Noiz in confusion. He said something about returning a favor, but Aoba was fairly he had never done him any favors before – they had barely spoken until a few days ago. Even if Noiz did owe him, that definitely isn’t how he would want it repaid.

“Just, wait for a second.” Aoba closed his eyes and put his head in his hands for a moment, breathing deeply to make his thoughts stop spinning. “What favor do you think you owe me for?”

“I come here every day after hours, and you let me stay.”

“…That’s it?”

“Is there more?”

Aoba shook his head, trying to understand. “Anyway, I don’t think of that as doing you a favor, so you don’t owe me anything.”

Somehow Noiz’s expression grew even more confused. “But you just asked me out. Which is just a roundabout way of asking for sex, right?”

…Oh. The pieces were beginning to fall together. Noiz thought that he owed Aoba for letting him stay with the rabbits, and he interpreted Aoba’s invitation as a request to be repaid in a… physical way.

“Hah?!” What on Earth… Aoba didn’t understand Noiz’s thoughts after all. “That’s not- I didn’t- what the hell, Noiz?”

“There’s no reason to be shy about it now.” Noiz advanced on him again and Aoba backed away, almost tripping over Ren, who he had forgotten was still out.

“Noiz, stop!” He stopped, but didn’t take his eyes off of Aoba. “Just, wait for a second, let me put Ren away.” Aoba quickly picked up the tiny dog and went back to put him into his kennel. Noiz stayed put as requested, and by the time Aoba returned his thoughts had cooled down enough to think mostly clearly.

“Three things.” He held up three fingers to emphasize his point. Noiz nodded. “First, whatever you think you owe me for, you don’t. I don’t mind you staying with the rabbits, and it’s not inconvenient at all.” Confusion further warped Noiz’s gaze, but he stayed silent. “Second, even if you did owe me anything, I would never, ever, think about asking you for…that.” Again, Noiz was silent, seeming to process this information. “Third, I really was asking you on a date. Not a ‘roundabout sex’ date, not because you ‘owe me’. An actual date, because I want to.”

“Why?” Confusion was quickly morphing into anger on Noiz’s features.

“Why what?”

“Why would you spend time with me? Why won’t you let me repay you? Why-“

“Noiz.” Noiz stopped speaking, but his angry confusion didn’t fade. “You know people don’t always expect to be repaid, right?”

“Yes they do. People want information, money, or sex. Since you don’t know what I do for a living, or how much money I make, so that leaves the third one.”

It hurt to hear Noiz speak that way. He couldn’t imagine what kind of life he must have lived to make him think those things, or what sort of people he associated with to perpetuate that way of thinking. Suddenly, Aoba was filled with a new purpose. He would show Noiz that not all people think that way, and that he had value as a person beyond whatever else he had been used for in the past.

“You’re wrong, Noiz.” Aoba smiled gently, frustration getting pushed aside in favor of his new determination. “At least for me, I don’t want anything from you.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s okay. I’ll prove it to you, if you’ll let me.” Noiz seemed wary, eyes darkening as he carefully closed off any windows that Aoba might take advantage of. Aoba didn’t take it personally, and the cold stare didn’t scare him away.

“How?”

“By showing you that there is still good in people. That there are people who won’t hurt you, who will sit and play with rabbits with you all day just because they want to. That maybe this world isn’t as bad you think it is.”

Noiz began to relax, and Aoba felt the tension slowly leaving the air. It would probably be difficult, the way Noiz had spoken made Aoba feel that his distrust was set deeply in his mind. But he had seen the softness in Noiz’s eyes every time he sat down in front of the rabbit cage, and that was enough to tell him that it was possible.

“So,” Aoba smiled brightly. “Let’s start with coffee.”


End file.
